A look at Livingston County’s 2019 boys track and field teams – Livingston Daily

BRIGHTON

► Last season: 4-2 KLAA Gold, 3rd place; KLAA meet, 2nd place; regional, 2nd place

► Top athletes: Brenden Edoff; Sean Foster, Sr.; Matt Jontz, Jr.; Will Jontz, Sr.; Austin Lally, Sr.; Nolan McGahan, Sr.; Chris Seguin, Sr.; Scott Spaanstra, Jr.; Jack Spamer, Jr.; Zach Stewart, Jr.; Patrick Whitton, Sr.

► Outlook: Brighton’s strength will be from the middle distances on up, bolstered by the standouts from its highly ranked cross country program. Spamer (1,600 meters) and Stewart (3,200) were state qualifiers last season and all-staters in cross country. Spaanstra and Will Jontz ran on the state runner-up 1,600 relay team last year.

► Coach Otha Hill: “We lost about 35 percent of our scoring from last year, but we’re expecting our sophomores who have been in the program to pick up the slack in that area. Some of our juniors and seniors have been sitting back and haven’t scored. They were probably the No. 3 sprinter or No. 3 quarter miler or No. 3 800 runner. Our program has been filling those holes as we need to each year.”

CHARYL STOCKWELL

► Last season: Regional, 6th place

► Top athletes: Tre Hill, Jr.; James Jordan, Sr.; Jacob Krettlin, Sr.

► Outlook: After getting a team on relatively short notice last year, the Sentinels have 20 boys on their squad. Being part of a league will give Stockwell another big meet for which to train after regionals. Hill joined a pole vault club in the offseason to give the Sentinels an athlete in an event left open by many Division 4 teams. Jordan, a cross country runner, had to go outside of his skill set last year because of Stockwell’s small team.

► Coach Ron Abner: “I think our guys can score well in the region. We have an outside shot at going to states as a team on both sides. Getting my distance runners where they need to be in the tricky part. We’ve got middle distance and sprinters and jumpers.”

FOWLERVILLE

► Last season: 5-0 duals; CAAC White meet, 1st place; regional, 5th place

► Top athletes: Kaleb Chappell, Soph.; Blake Howard, Sr.; Joe Palyj, Jr.; Nick Reason, Sr.; Hayden Schloemp, Sr.; Garett Shermoe, Jr.;

► Outlook: Fowlerville graduated three first-team all-county athletes from a league championship team, but hopes to mine some talent from a 65-man roster. Reason, who was 15th in the state Division 2 meet in the 400 last year, will be leaned upon heavily. Chappell is a potential star who was one of the Gladiators’ top sprinters as a freshman.

► Coach Bret Shrader: “Hopefully we can fill events. That’s part of the battle with track is if you can fill the events you can usually do pretty well. We just have a lot of new faces.”

HARTLAND

► Last season: 1-5 KLAA Gold, 6th place; KLAA meet, 12th place; regional, 13th place

► Top athletes: Nolan Campbell, Jr.; Tyler Cook, Jr.; Isaac Elmore, Soph.; Connor Geran, Jr.; Riley Hough, Fr.; Cade Kaighen, Jr.; Evan Linden, Jr.; Joseph Nicholas, Jr.; Justin Smith, Jr.

► Outlook: Hartland finished near the bottom in its league and regional last year, but the Eagles could be competitive this year or next with a core of young talent on an 80-man roster. Elmore is a three-sport athlete who made an impact in sprints and the long jump as a freshman. Hough will take his talent to the track after a record-setting all-state freshman campaign in cross country. The Eagles should put up points in the field events with Cook and Linden in the pole vault, Smith in the throws and Elmore in the long jump.

► Coach Matt Gutteridge: “We’re young, but they all seem to be energetic and willing to work. I think we’ll be a little bit more competitive. It’s such a tough league. We’ll make the most of it and try to continue to improve.”

HOWELL

► Last season: 0-6 KLAA Gold, 7th place; KLAA meet, 14th place; regional, 14th place

► Top athletes: Joshua Brown, Sr.; Ryan Herrmann, Soph.; Avry McInroy, Jr.; Alec Pominville, Sr.; Jonah Schrock, Jr.; T.J. Stachowski, Sr.; Brandon Viel, Sr.; Noah Weslock, Jr.

► Outlook: Howell has one of the county’s top athletes in Brown, who nearly made the state meet in the long jump and will join three-sport standout Schrock to bolster the sprints. The Highlanders lack depth to compete at the Division 1 level, with a roster that fluctuates between 40 and 50 athletes.

► Coach Anthony Kandt: “We’re really untested. We don’t have a lot of seniors, a few juniors. We have a pretty good freshman turnout, which is encouraging. We have some legit fast kids to develop.”

PINCKNEY

► Last season: 5-1 duals; SEC White meet, 2nd place (overall league champion); regional, 9th place

► Top athletes: Joey Arbenowske, Soph.; Dylan Deck, Sr.; Caleb Jarema, Fr.; Jake Loria, Jr.; Dylan Reason, Soph.; Ian Trotter, Jr.; Gavin White, Soph.

► Outlook: Pinckney graduated the cornerstones of its state-qualifying relays. While Deck, a senior hurdler, is the team’s top returner, the bulk of the team is made up of young athletes who should keep the program competitive. Trotter ran in two relays at the state meet. White is a state-qualifying cross country runner. Jarema debuted with a 4:37.06 1,600 at the Saginaw Valley State indoor meet.

► Coach Matt Gerardi: “We lost a lot of talent this year, but this group is incredibly hard-working and laser-focused and looking to defend our SEC title.”

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